A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education

From Teaching to Learning: A New Paradigm for Undergraduate Education

By Robert B Barr and John Tagg

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them. –Albert Einstein

A paradigm shift is taking hold in American higher education. In its briefest form, the paradigm that has governed our colleges is this: A college is an institution that exists to provide instruction. Subtly but profoundly we are shifting to a new paradigm: A college is an institution that exists to produce learning. This shift changes everything. It is both needed and wanted.